Building wall structure



March 3, 1959 F. v. ANDRE BUILDING WALL STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 10, 1954 Il l I JNVENTOR. FR ANK v. ANDRE BYMV/VM ATTORNEY United States Patent C)BUILDING WALL STRUCTURE Frank V. Andre, Torrance, Pa.

Application August 10, 1954, Serial No. 448,887

1 Claim. (Cl. 20-4) The loss of dimensional stability is generallycausedby the expansion and contraction of the separate members resultingin the wall losing its structural firmness and weather tight qualities.in structures usingwooden strips or splines as structural features andtongue and groove joints in general. The requirement of exactmeasurement and fashioning of the elements of the structure althoughpossible, is immediately afiectedby the absorption of moisture.Consequently the initial erection of the structure as well as itsultimate weather-tight qualities are affected by conditions beyond thecontrol of the manufacturer. A further object is therefore, to provide asplined joint structure easy to manufacture and erect, and which remainssealed at the splined joints and firm under all weather conditions.

These and other objects will be evident in the detailed description ofthe invention given later in the specification. Briefly it discloses animprovement in spline joint structures whereby the wooden splinesorspacers are fitted with a metal cover extending into the attachedelements. By making the metal cover from a spring material, weatherresistant, and fashioning it to exercise a clip action on the woodenspacer, a firm and weather repellant joint isthe result. These metalcovers and the woodensplines are installed together as the wall iserected, and the spacing is maintained at the most effective dimensionfor expansion and contraction at the erection site by use ofconstruction guides. Finally the structural advantage of the splinedjoint which affords a free floating connection leaving connected membersundisturbed by weather is enhanced by the use of a thin metal cover ofspring material made to cover the exposed face of the wooden spline. t

A better understanding of the invention may be had by reference to thefollowing detailed explanation read with reference to the accompanyingdrawing in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view showing the assembled elements.

Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1 taken on line 2-2.

Figure 3 is a sectional view of Figure 1 taken on line 3-3.

Figure 4 is an enlargement of a detail of Figure 1 showing assemblyfeatures.

Figure 5 is an enlarged elevational detail showing an alternate cornerconstruction.

Figure 6 is a sectional detail of the joint construction.

These faults are common ice Figure 7 is a sectional alternate cornerconstruction.

Several solutions to the problem of weather tight, decay free splinedjoints have been offered. To the earliest structure using a simplewooden spacer fitted into the joined adjacent pieces have been addedfillers, completely covering the space, or substitutions have been madeof metal and other substances for the wooden spline orspacer. The basicproblems of decay and weathertight failure still remain.

A proper solution of the first of these basic problems requiresaccessability to as much of the surface of the connected pieces as ispossible for decay prevention main tenance. This can be achieved only byreducing the covering of the spaced apart section toa minimum andshedding of water from the normally affected areas of the spline and thesplined joint.

Maintenance ofa weather-tight structure of this 'type also depends onrefusing water admission to the joint area. This problem requires, inaddition, a joint ,that is tight under all conditions affecting itsdimensions. In addition such joint must be easy to assemble, and I forsome special structures such as portable buildings, easy to disassembleand reassemble.

According to the present invention, advantage is taken of the jointsafforded by wood spring-pressed into intimate contact with. wood for theweather-tight problem To expedite construction and dismantling as wellas insolution as well as ease and reduced cost-of manufacture.

creasing weather resistance, a spring metal cover for the.

spline is used. when these elements are assembled in the joined piecesof kerfed surfacing material at a depth dictated by measurementsestablished for proper. con:

struction in the locale, a weather resistive joint is achieved.

which gives an outstanding structural result.

Figure 1 illustrates a sectionbf a'ivall using the1ele-, ments of thisinvention assembledin a preferred; form.

The wooden surfacing members 10, shown in section in Figure 3, arenotched or kejrfed on the sides as at 12.

As indicated in Figures 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7, the preferred embodiment alsoshows like notches 14 in 'the ends which abut comer. posts such as 16.The wooden members 10 are rounded on the exposedsurface 18 and flattenedon the back 20 for ease in fasteningto aframe work such as supplied bythe studs 22. A sill ,24 and a cap 26 are included here to delimit, awall area as periphery bounding members and to show thefacility of thedisclosed splinestructure in completinga building surface, or as used inprefabricated portions of a building for later assembly, if desired. Thedetail under the cap 26 is illustrated in Figure 2 Figures 2, 3

have a depth sufficient to include the stulds122 and the woodensurfacing: members 20. The slots 30 and 32 in each of thesemembers"respectively are aligned to receive the wood'spline 34 and thespring metal covering all the woodsplines .36 fitting into the cornerpost kerf and the end kerf in the face member 10. In. this instance itmay be desired to omit a short metal cover suggested to be used with thespacer and use a full length metal cover long enough to fit the cornerpost from top to bottom. In either plan view detail showing the I s andwill .beapplicable .to the. sill 24 details as understood by thoseversciili theartQ arid 4 show the details of the cap 2 6, and the cornerpost 16. Both these elementsare shown to:

case such a cover not d as ber 42in-Figure'7 Additionally, the cover isand, because of its thinness and flexibility will co-operate v withspaers34 and covers 361 Such an alternate 'structure permits a closelyabutting corner joint retaining all the structural advantages of thatshown in Figures land 4, described above. 1

Referring now to Figures 3 and 6 the surfacing members l0 and theconnecting spacersor spline combinations of Wood 34 and metal 36 will bedescribed. The Wood splines 34'fand the metal covers 36 fit into theslots 12. Aswill be understood later, the spacing for this assembly iscontrolled to allow for expansion and contraction yet maintain a properjoint; By cambering the metal cover 36' and controlling the width anddepth of the slots in the receiving members, and the thickness, andwidth of the spline, tight joints forassembly and ultimate satisfactionare assured.

The 'metal cover 36 is shown in detail in Figure 6. A satisfactorymetal'for this purpose is Phosphor-bronze spring materialjofj0l26 inchthickness (28 gauge Browne & Sharp). By bending theupp'er edge once anddouble bending the lower edge a two-fold result. is achieved. Animmediate indication of the preferred assemblyis tr'ansmitte'd to theerecting workmen Second- 1y the'upper single bend acts as metalflashingin shedding 'Water' ffrom'theftop of the metal cover while the doublebend at the bottom assists in properly spacing the connecting woodenmembers as well as acting as a water seal in the lower portion of thejoint.

"The ease of assembly and disassembly will be immediately recognized bythose versed in the art. However to emphasize the patentabledistinctionof the disclosed combination and sub-combination overexisting structures of this't'ype the assembly of a typicalwall sec't'ionwill be described'.

"Framing as represented'jby the sill24, studs 22 and corner post 16 iserected. The sill and corner posts are notched, slotted or kerfed asindicated on theinner peripheral face to receive the metal covers andwooden spline spacers. fThis 'combination of weather shedding spacing.elements is set inthe'sill and corner post ready to re'c eive themembers 10.. By marking the studs as at A B, 'etc. (Figure 3 positioninglines indicating the proper spacing of the'space'r elements andthelassoci ated members for the best joint structure are made availableto the erectors. A line scribed to run the length of the corner post"assists in for'niingthe vertical joint in the sameway."

It will'be evident that by repeating the procedure the wall, includingopeningshandled as above as for the cornerfposts, canf'be erected todesired heighth. A cap 26, similar to the 's'illl is placed to terminatethe construction'and preparethe'assemblyfor additional heighth of wallor roof construction. i l p i By carefullyspacing" the surface membersas outlined, and using standard dimensions for the member Widths andgroove depths, splines and covers can be made standa'rd'las' "Asindicated above, the; splines will be thinner than the' grooves on thegroove entering edges and narrowerthan thefs'pace between'themembersplus the depths'of thefg'roove bottornsto permit proper insertion ofthecover. In turn, thecoveris wide enough to extend into the grooves andengagethe groove bottom.

4 I I I s cambered' or bowed, and also bent on the edges as shown toextend beyond the plane of the spline, fill the groove space allowed bythe narrower and thinner spline and urge the spline into secureposition. In this Way, the cover and spline cooperate with each other asa joint closure between the groovedspaced surface members. a

The resulting structure presents a wall face of scaled joints whereweather is refused, yet the flexibility of the joint is maintained. Byabsorbing the effects of weather expansion and contraction in jointsretaining their original dimensions and flexibility the relatively fixedmembers remain undisturbed. The metal covers fitting into the slots ofthe connected members together with the Wooden splines preserves thespline and, the joint, and makes maintenance easy by exposing theweathering surfaces of the connected members. Erection is simplified andcontrolled by the manufacturer to give the best results I in the localeof erection. Usual leakage due to expansion and contracting is thusreduced to a minimum because of the flexible joint'design andtheerection control;

In illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention a horizontalassembly of members is shown.

. sibility of vertical or angular erection using'the connectingjointprinciples as outlined here seems self evident. Also,abuttingmembers are as readily connected bythe joint disclosed here asareadjacently extended members.

Further structural changes will beevident to those versed in the artsuch as modification of the end of the member joints with the cornerposts by further simplification as indicated. Additionally, changes inthe sectional bending of the spring metal spline cover may beintroduced.

to fit special conditions. l't is therefore, the intent of this"invention tobe limited in scope only by the limits of the attached claimas it is construed in the spirit of this disclosure.

Whatjijs claimed is: i In weather exposed building wall constructed offixed I woodensurfacing members spaced apart in parallel arplane of'thespline and the edges of the spline, and into contact with the bottoms ofthe adjacent grooves, and resiliently urging the spline against the rearwalls of the grooves.

References Cited in the file of this patent I UNITED STATES PATENTS323,036 Elford July '28, 1885 1,813,455 Lawton July 7, 1931" 2,158,732Shannon May 1 6, 1939 2,339,865 Larmour Jan. 25, 1944' FQREIGNPATENTS565,516 I 7 Germany g Dec. 2,

The pos-

